How to level up fast in Diablo 4 Season 8

Every new Diablo 4 season provides an exciting opportunity to create new characters and test various builds. However, with it comes the bothersome task of leveling up quickly to reach the endgame, unlock the paragon board, crank up the torment difficulty, and start honing your build. 

How you make progress in Diablo 4 changes every season as Blizzard adds new XP-farming seasonal activities or endgame stuff, buffs or nerf enemy density in certain dungeons, or adds build-altering unique items that make it substantially easy to rush through certain content. 

As such, whether you’re interested in navigating endgame activities via a new seasonal character or cranking up your existing eternal character to take on Uber Lilith, you’re in the right place. 

In this guide, we explain some sureshot ways to level up fast in Diablo 4 Season 8.

Updated, 1 May 2025: Explained ways to level up fast in Diablo 4 Season 8: Belial's End.

In Diablo 4 Season 8, Blizzard has reduced the XP gains from kills and nerfed gear drops in early levels. As such, unlike Season of Witchcraft, wherein you could reach level 30 ridiculously fast by farming Headhunt Zones, you might struggle to get going.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing, though it does make the early grind rather monotonous and tedious.

To begin, we recommend starting at Normal difficulty instead of Hard. We know the extra 75% XP boost might seem very tempting, but stay with us for a moment. As mentioned above, the gear drop rate has been reduced significantly in Season 8. You might not even get a decent rare drop until you reach level 10-15. Likewise, you might not get legendaries until you hit level 20, even from Helltides.  

It’s a stark departure from Season 7 and can make encounters rather challenging in the beginning since you might not have the proper gear to tackle most content. Additionally, boss encounters in Apparition Incursion are spongy and can one-shot you if you’re not careful. 

As such, it’s best to start at Normal and clear things at a regular pace, as it would ultimately help you level up faster. That said, if you’re lucky enough to snag decent gear early on, there’s no harm in bumping the difficulty to Hard.

While Apparition Incursion is the best activity to farm XP in Season 8, we found Grim Favors far more rewarding. As such, we recommend focusing primarily on gaining Grim Favors and claiming Whisper Caches until you reach level 30. Every Grim Favor reward should jump you to two to three levels, if not more.

Like always, as soon as you reach level 10, don’t forget to upgrade your healing potion. Also, once you have reached level 20, start crafting and using Basic Elixirs for the 5% XP boost

The level 30-50 path in Diablo 4 Season 8 is much smoother, especially if you have unlocked appropriate gear and Boss Powers.

Now that you have started obtaining legendaries and assembling your leveling build, it’s time to bump up the difficulty. It’s also the best time to grind Apparition Incursions on repeat, as it will grant you the most amount of XP. 

You can always switch to Helltides for farming gear and just a general change of pace. Likewise, Whispers are still great for earning massive chunks of XP. 

Smoldering Ashes are no longer tied to the battle pass. Instead, they are part of Chapter Rewards. Since you need to reach Chapter 4 to get the first Smoldering Ash, we recommend prioritizing completing Seasonal Objectives to get these as soon as possible. Completing these objectives will also grant you Item Caches that contain useful build-altering items.

In case you have forgotten, Smolderish Ash is required to unlock Season Blessings. However, unlike before, you can't use it to boost XP gains from killing monsters. You will still need to unlock at least the first update, Orn of Oath, as soon as possible, as it boosts the amount of Unveiler’s Oath reputation you earn. 

The more Unveiler’s Oath reputation you earn, the more quickly you unlock Reputation Cache, containing elixirs, gears, and materials necessary to bolster your build and tackle challenging content.

While we believe in experimenting and trying homebrew builds in every Diablo 4 season, these aren’t worth the time and effort until you are past the level 60 threshold. That's because the leveling experience in Diablo 4 can be tiresome, especially if you are a returning player. 

Even if you don't play D4 every season, you might want to look at some of the best-performing leveling builds and use them to get through the early hours of the game.

The best thing about it is that it lets you filter and sort out your build requirements early on. Whether it’s Aspects, Affixes, Legendaries, Boss Powers, or Socketable Items, you can start farming these straight away without wasting precious hours deciding which route to take, as your leveling build wouldn't matter once you head into the endgame. 

For instance, we are trying out the Flurry Rogue build this season to level up. It’s pretty good. Likewise, Dance of Knives (also for Rogue), Quill Volley for Spiritborn, Bloodwave for Necromancer, Arc Lash for Sorcerer, Pulverize for Druid, and Upheaval for Barbarian are great leveling builds to try in Season 8.

Once you have reached level 50, it’s time to start clearing Strongholds.

Strongholds are the best source of XP after you cross level 50. They spawn tons of enemies and provide a much-needed boost in challenges from other activities in the game. There are 18 Strongholds in Diablo 4, so you have plenty of opportunities to gain XP and reach level 60. 

We are still making our way to level 60 and completing any and every stronghold along the way. However, outside of this, we haven’t found any other ways to gain XP quickly in this phase of leveling. 

However, we will update this article once we reach the endgame and explore other options, so don’t forget to check back soon. 

Note: The original article follows. Below, you can find some general tips for gaining fast XP in every Diablo 4 season.

Irrespective of which Diablo 4 season you’re playing, there are a few general ways to level up quickly. These are:

Few Diablo 4 dungeons feature more elite enemies, have a higher mob density than others, or are simply easy to run, thus making them great for farming XP.

While this changes every season, here are a few D4 dungeons that remain the best places to farm XP for leveling up: 

Please note that these dungeons are great for XP farming until you reach level 60.

Every Diablo 4 class has a few builds that are relatively more powerful early on and are more suited for leveling up. These builds can help you tackle early-game content with ease and aid you in reaching the endgame sooner rather than later.

Sorcerer (Chain Lightning)

Chain Lightning is an S-tier Sorcerer build that has been relevant since the launch of Diablo 4. It’s a mana-friendly, high-damage-dealing build that is also quite satisfying to use. The core ability can bounce between enemy targets, making it easier to clear mobs solo. 

Most importantly, Chain Lightning is simple to play and incredibly efficient and powerful from the get-go if you use appropriate Legendary Aspects like Recharge.

Rogue (Barrage)

Most S-tier Rogue Builds are complex to play, except Barrage, which is why we recommend it for leveling up. Barrage deals a ton of AOE damage, making it great for clearing mobs and gaining tons of XP quickly. 

You can boost Barrage’s damage further by equipping the Branching Volleys Legendary Aspect, which you can unlock by completing the Shadowed Plunge dungeon in Hawezar.

Spiritborn (Stinger)

Spiritborn is the most broken class in Diablo 4, though it may not feel like one until you unlock Guardian Spirits to boost your damage output. It’s not the easiest class to play, however, with plenty of micro-managing, but Stinger can do a lot of heavy lifting for you. 

Stinger specializes in dealing tons of poison damage. It makes it easy to clear mobs since you mostly deal AoE damage over time. You can even equip Legendary Aspects like Pestilence early on to enhance your build further and breeze through early levels.

Barbarian (Upheaval)

Upheaval is the best Barbarian skill for dealing AoE damage and clearing mobs in Diablo 4. You can use an Upheaval build to smash through early-game content solo or with a group quite easily without much effort. 

Like other leveling builds we have mentioned, you can empower your Upheaval Barbarian build early on by equipping the Earthstriker’s Legendary Aspect, which you can unlock by completing Maugaun’s Work dungeon in Hawezar.

Necromancer (Blood Surge)

Blood Surge Necromancer builds deal tons of AoE damage and inflicts CC on enemies. The latter especially makes up for the class’s awful mobility and allows you to tackle early-game content solo.

Whether you’re playing solo or in a group, this Necromancer build should make your leveling experience relatively smoother. 

Druid (Pulverize)

Wearbear is the most common Druid build in Diablo 4 for a reason. It’s simple to use. It deals massive AoE damage. And it has a solid defense.

While resource management can be tricky at first, you can improve it by unlocking and equipping the Umbral Legendary Aspect. Additionally, you can boost Pulverize’s damage output by using the Ursine Horror Legendary Aspect.

That sums up our guide on how to level up fast in Diablo 4. For more on the game, stick to esports.gg.